Agriculture and Fishing

Agriculture has also seen minimal development. Kuwait's desert
climate sustains little vegetation. Kuwait has no rivers, only a few
wadis that fill with winter and spring rain. Scant rainfall, little
irrigation water, and poor soils have always limited farming in Kuwait.
Before the discovery of oil, several occupations contributed to the
economy--nomads moving livestock to the sparse forage in the desert,
pearling, and fishing--but none of these occupations provided much
beyond subsistence. Once the government began receiving oil revenues,
the contribution of other sectors to national income was reduced still
further. Economic growth and welfare measures since World War II drew
workers away from historical pursuits and lessened the role of
agriculture. In the late 1980s, fewer than 10,000 people were employed
in agriculture. The government invested some money in developing
hydroponics to increase vegetable production. Kuwait's most important
crops in 1989 were tomatoes (40,000 tons), dried onions (25,000 tons),
melons (7,000 tons), dates (1,000 tons), and smaller amounts of
cucumbers and eggplants. Some of these crops are grown hydroponically.
Although Kuwait manages to export some vegetables, its agricultural
potential remains limited.

Fishing provides a minor but important economic contribution. Much of
the fishing for the local market was historically from small boats,
including many native dhows. Large-scale commercial fishing is mostly
confined to the United Fisheries of Kuwait, which operates a fleet of
vessels as far afield as the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Atlantic
Ocean. United Fisheries is a large, international firm that processes
and exports part of its catch, particularly frozen shrimp. However, in
the 1970s overfishing in the gulf by many states considerably reduced
catches of fish and shrimp. In 1989 Kuwait had a catch of approximately
4,700 tons of fish and 3,000 tons of shrimp and prawns. In the late
1980s, war and environmental damage, including oil spills, also reduced
the attractiveness of the gulf fishing industry.